fallen
by SAMartin
Summary: Josh has discovered Leo's secret, but Josh has a secret of his own. Final chapter beta read and amened.
1. Default Chapter

**Title: Fallen (Part 1 of 2)   
Author:**S A Martin   
**Synopsis: **Josh has discovered Leo's secret, but Josh has a secret of his own.  
**Characters:** Josh, Leo, Mallory and Donna  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Spoilers:**Anything up to S5, Disaster Relief.

* * *

Leo had his back to Mallory when she entered the room, she wasn't even sure he knew she was there. When she saw what he was doing, she was positive he didn't.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked.

Leo stopped pouring the drink and slowly turned to face his daughter. "How did you get in?"

"You gave me a key, which must now seem like a huge mistake." Mallory tried to stay calm, because ranting and raving really wouldn't help. "What are you doing?" she repeated.

"Having a drink."

"I can see that. Why?"

"Why?" Leo appeared to consider the question. "Because there comes a time when you just have to admit that you can't do it anymore, that you should give in to the inevitable. You want one?"

"No." Mallory glared at her father. "It's been nine years, you've not had a drink in nine years."

"Yes I have."

"What?"

"Ask Josh." Leo wasn't sure why he's wanted to get Josh in trouble, but he was very sure he didn't want to take the blame alone. "St Louis, 1998."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mallory eventually found herself outside the White House, stood with the tourists looking at the building, with no idea what to do next. There would be no point in telling in her mother, she had her own life now and no interest in her father anymore. She could tell Jordan, though she wasn't sure whether they were still dating, but who else was there? She could hardly march into the White House and tell the president. No one in the family would have any success in talking to him, they never have in the past. So that put the onus on her. She cast one more glance at the building and started to walk away.

"Mal," a familiar voice called to her.

Mallory turned and tried to smile. "Hey," she replied, as Josh joined her. "You been working?"

"Just got back from a trip, wanted to check my desk."

"That it was still there?"

"Well you never know," Josh grinned. He studied Mallory, she looked like she had been crying. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Okay. You want to go and get a drink?"

Mallory's laugh was bitter. "Only if it's coffee."

"Coffee's fine," Josh replied. 

They drove to Josh's apartment in silence. Mallory trying to get the image of her father, with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand, out of her head and Josh wondering who had upset her. When they reached the building they went in and Josh made coffee, while waiting for Mallory to talk. After a few minutes he gave up. 

"What you been up to?" he asked.

"Not much. Where was your trip to?"

"Norway."

"Norway?"

"It was cold," Josh smiled as he handed her a mug of coffee. "How's your mom?"

"Far too happy," Mal replied. "Is my dad still seeing Jordan?"

Josh shrugged, "We don't really discuss that stuff." Recently they haven't discussed anything, let alone their private lives. "Why?"

"I don't know. She was good for him, I just wondered. Why did no one tell me about St Louis?"

"I've been away. What's happened in St Louis?"

"On the campaign, the first campaign. He got drunk and you knew."

Josh looked uncomfortable with the turn in conversation."He wanted it kept secret, he didn't want you or your mom to know."

"Drunks love their secrets don't they?" Mal snapped.

"It was five years ago, what's happened to bring it up now."

"Forget it."

Josh had a bad feeling as he watched Mallory turn away from him. Suddenly everything from the last few weeks fell into place. "Is he drinking again?" he asked quietly.

Mallory turned to face him and the look in her eyes said it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Monday, when the rest of the staff left Leo's office, Josh stayed behind, but Leo had already turned to his computer and was reading an email.

"Leo."

"Yeah?" Leo asked, not bothering to turn round.

"So, I saw Mal yesterday."

Leo stopped what he was doing, but still didn't turn to face Josh.

"She was upset," Josh continued.

Still Leo sat facing the monitor, not moving, unwilling to look at Josh.

"She said she'd seen you earlier," Josh prompted.

"How is this your business?" Leo asked.

"Mallory's my friend," Josh replied.

"So you thought you'd come and save me did you?"

"You can't do this, Leo."

"It's my life, Josh, I can do what the hell I want with it and I don't need lectures off of you."

Josh ignored his boss and carried on. "How long have you been drinking again."

"Were you not listening, it's none of your damn business. Go and do the work you're paid for and stop trying to be my conscience."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the next few days Josh watched as Leo continued to tear into the staff for petty things, and he wondered if any of them had considered what he knew. Mostly he wondered whether the president had realized, but he guessed not or he would surely have spoken to Leo about it. By Thursday he decided to talk to Leo again. He waited until most people had gone home and then went to Leo's office.

"You got a minute?" he asked.

"Not really, can't it wait?"

"When's Margaret back?"

"Monday."

"Does she know?" Josh asked as he closed the office door.

"Not unless you told her."

"You think you can keep it from her."

"It doesn't matter either way."

"Why are you doing this?" Josh demanded.

Leo sighed. He'd known this conversation was coming, the only surprise was that it had taken so long. "When you've had a shit day what do you do? You go home and have a drink. You go to CJ's office and have a drink. You go to bar... You see where this is heading."

"I'm not an alcoholic."

"No you're not. So don't think you can even begin to understand. Do you know how hard the last few months have been?"

"Yes, I've been here too in case you hadn't noticed."

"Yes I noticed. I've noticed you come in with a hangover, I've noticed Donna alternating between fussing round you and getting exasperated with you. You have that luxury. You can go out and get completely hammered. Well I've missed that. Okay?"

"No, it's not okay. What's the thing you want most at the moment?"

"You to leave."

"I'm serious."

"So am I," Leo replied.

Josh ignored him. "You want a drink. That's the difference. You've started drinking again and now that's all you want. You can't do this to yourself or your family or your friends." Josh glanced toward the Oval Office. "Does he know?

"You think I'd tell him, are you insane?"

"I think he's going to notice. He's known you a long time, he'll be able to tell."

"You couldn't. If Mallory hadn't told you, you'd never have known."

"How long?" Josh asked.

"Few weeks. I don't need saving. I'm fine."

"Really? Well you look at the staff tomorrow morning, you look at their faces and tell me if they're fine."

"What have......?"

"You've been making our lives hell, Leo. If you can honestly tell me that everything's fine, that the staff are fine...."

"You'll leave me alone?"

"No. You need help, Leo, you need to talk to someone."

"Don't go thinking that you can save me, Josh. Don't think for one minute that I'm going to tell you my deepest secrets and fears and don't think you can be my buddy. You have no idea what this is like."

"No, I don't know what it's like to be an alcoholic. But I do know what's it's like to feel out of control, to feel your grip on life is slipping away. I do how frightening that is and how you'll grab any lifeline you can find. I grabbed work, you're grabbing alcohol. The outcome's the same though. You push everyone away, hoping that they won't notice what you're doing and you still deny to yourself and everyone else that there's any problem."

"There isn't...."

"Yes there is. You're on a downward spiral and you're taking us with you. I'm not going to let you destroy yourself, neither will Margaret and neither will the president."

"Don't even think about talking to him, Josh."

"Of course I won't. I just want to help. And don't tell me to leave you alone, because that isn't going to happen."

"Why do you always have to do this?" Leo asked, angrily. "Do you know how annoying it is. Maybe if you spent less time trying to protect me, and mostly failing, and more time doing the work you're paid for, you wouldn't screw up quite so often."

"Fine. Do what you want," Josh replied as he left the office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SATURDAY

"Who the hell is that?"

"Leave it," Josh replied, without even opening his eyes.

"How can you sleep through it. I'm going to see who it is."

"Okay," Josh muttered, rolling over.

Donna sighed and climbed out of bed. She walked across the darkened apartment and peeped out of the front window to see who was ringing Josh's doorbell at 3am. She was a little shocked to see Leo stood on the stoop. She pulled quickly away from the window and went back to the bedroom. 

"Wake up," she told Josh.

"Come back to bed."

"It's Leo."

"Umm?"

"At the door, it's Leo."

"Time is it?"

"Just gone 3."

"Okay. Stay in here, I'll get rid of him."

Josh opened his apartment door, walked along the corridor and opened the building's main door. "Do you know what time it is?" he asked Leo.

"What the hell do you think you're doing talking to the president?" Leo demanded.

"Come in." Josh walked back to his apartment and let Leo inside. "About what?" he asked.

"Me."

"I haven't......"

"Don't deny it. He came to talk to me. Said he was concerned that I may be drinking again. Now I wonder who could have given him that idea?"

"You," Josh suggested.

"What did you think, he'd go over my head and give you back the work I took away?"

"I didn't...."

"Maybe you thought he'd promote you."

"Have you heard yourself?" Josh shouted back, forgetting for a second that Donna was in the next room. "You really think I'd do that? You really think I'd go running to the president with the intent of ruining your career? Jesus, Leo. When I spoke to you I was trying to help you, though God knows why I bothered."

"Trying to help me? How the hell can you help me?"

Josh shook his head, the memory of the previous day's argument still very fresh in his mind. "I obvious can't. Though I was always good enough in the past when you had nowhere else to stay, as were my parents. Is that why you kept in touch with me when I started working in Washington, a convenient place to crash?"

"More than likely," Leo replied.

Josh's first instinct was to throw Leo out, but he was drunk and Josh was worried where he would end up if he left.

In the bedroom Donna listened to the conversation with mounting concern. She couldn't hear everything that was being said, but she'd got the general gist - Leo was drunk, the president knew and Leo blamed Josh.

"You never use to be a paranoid drunk, Leo, but I guess the stakes are higher now," Donna heard Josh say. She wished he wouldn't shout at Leo, how the hell was that going to help? But she was still trying to understand this. Leo was drunk, aggressively drunk by the sound of it. They were talking more quietly and she couldn't hear what was being said, she didn't know if that was good or bad. Suddenly the bedroom door opened and closed again.

"Sorry about this," Josh said. "I guess you heard that?"

"Some of it. What's going on?" she whispered.

"He's going to have to stay in the guest room."

Donna nodded. "I'll go."

"No. I'll tell him. He has to know sometime?" Josh's statement was actually a question.

"Okay." Donna climbed out of bed. "You look after him, I'll make coffee."

Josh returned to the living room and Donna walked into the kitchen. "You're staying here tonight," Josh told Leo.

Leo started to argue, but all the fight had gone out of him. He sat down and nodded.

"Donna's here," Josh continued.

Leo looked up at Josh. "Why?"

"She stays over sometimes."

"You're dating your assistant?" Leo demanded.

"I don't think you're really in a position to judge anyone at the moment, Leo," Josh replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Sunday, Josh was awake early, though Donna doubted he'd slept at all. "I should go home," she said.

"I'd rather you stayed. I think there's less chance of me hitting him if you're here."

Donna assumed Josh was joking, until she saw his face. "What did he say to you?"

"We argued about stuff. Maybe he didn't mean it, I don't know."

"Last night?" Donna asked, she thought she'd head most of their conversation. 

"No. On Friday, in his office. Which I'm guessing is when the president found out."

"I'll make some breakfast," Donna said. "You go and check on him."

Josh knocked gently on the guest room door but got no response. He opened the door slightly, "You okay?" he asked the darkness.

"Yeah."

"You want a drink or something?"

Leo laughed, "I suppose by drink you mean coffee?"

"Yes."

"Please."

"Donna's still here by the way."

"Okay."

Twenty minutes later Leo was sat on the living room sofa, nursing a mug of coffee and a sore head. He had had two aspirin, but what he really wanted was a drink. When Josh walked into the living room, Leo went to stand. "I'm going to go home."

"No you're not," Josh told him.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not going home. You go home and you'll drink. Anyway, we need to talk."

"Yes we do," Leo agreed as he sat back down. "You're sleeping with your assistant."

"Yes. But that's not we need to talk about."

"I think it is."

"Okay, go on."

"She's your assistant, Josh. Do you know how it'd look?"

"You think it might damage my reputation?" Josh asked. "You think senators might not want to meet with me if they know I'm dating Donna? Oh no, hang on, that doesn't matter anymore. I don't have a reputation, or much of a job."

"So you thought you might as well sleep with your assistant?"

"I thought, _we_ thought, it was about time we put ourselves first. We thought after five years we deserved a little happiness, even if it has to be in secret." Josh told him. "I don't want to talk about me and Donna. I want to know why you're drinking?"

"Because I'm an alcoholic."

"That's a shit answer and you know it. Plenty alcoholics never drink again."

"Like your father?"

"Don't bring..."

"You think he never fell off the wagon? He wasn't as perfect as you think."

"I know he did," Josh saw the surprise on Leo's face. "What? You thought you were going to tell me something I didn't know. Did you actually think you could damage his memory?" he shouted. "He was twice the man you'll ever be."

That was more than Donna could take. She walked in from the bedroom, where she'd been trying to read a book, although she'd read the same paragraph five times. "Stop it both of you. What the hell's wrong with you? Are you deliberately trying to hurt each other?"

Josh glared from Donna to Leo before storming into the kitchen where he stood against the fridge and tried to calm down. Leo just hung his head.

Donna joined Josh in the kitchen. "You okay?"

"No."

"He doesn't mean it, he's not exactly himself."

"He's sober."

"Doesn't mean he's acting like himself."

"I don't care. Let someone else deal with him."

"You don't mean that," Donna said.

"Yes, I do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Will you stop looking at me like that."

"Why are you pretending that you don't care?"

"Because... you heard what he said, Donna."

"Yes, you're angry with him, I understand that, but that doesn't stop you caring."

"Really?"

"When someone you care about talks to you like that, when they say things that seem designed to upset you, of course it hurts, but you still care."

"How did you get to be an expert?" Josh asked.

"I have a very close friend who finds it hard to ask for help. When he was going through a bad time a few years ago, he said things that he's probably forgotten about now."

Josh looked at Donna and chewed his lip. "No I haven't. I'm still really sorry for the things I said." He smiled slightly, "You did look good in that dress though."

"I know, that's why I bought it." Donna smiled. "Call him, make sure he's OK."

Josh shook his head. "We'll just end up arguing again."

"Then I'll call."

Continued............


	2. Time To Act

**Title: Fallen (Part 2)   
Author:**S A Martin   
**Synopsis:** As Josh and Leo's relationship deteriorates, Jed decides it's time to act.   
**Characters:** Josh, Leo and Jed  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Spoilers: **Anything up to S5, Disaster Relief.

* * *

During senior staff on Monday morning nobody could miss the tension between Josh and Leo. After Leo had cut Josh off for the third time, and it looked as if Josh were in danger of saying something to Leo that he definitely shouldn't say in the Oval Office, Jed decided to intervene. "Right, everyone. Thank you. Leo, Josh I need to see you alone."

Once the others had left, Jed studied his two most senior advisors and wondered whether he'd get away with banging their heads together. He walked around his desk and sat down, while Leo and Josh stood awkwardly on the other side. "Who wants to go first?" Jed asked.

"Sir?"

"I could lock you in a room together until you sort this out, but I need you both doing actual work." Jed looked at Leo. "I told you on Saturday that Josh hasn't spoken to me about anything other than work." He turned to Josh, "Which is something we need to discuss, because you damn well should have spoken to me."   
Jed watched as Leo looked angry and Josh shifted from foot to foot. "Neither of you has anything to say? Fine, then I suggest you both try to find a way to work together. Leo I need to talk you. Josh go and help Angela sort out Chet and 829."

Once Josh had left, Leo turned to Jed. "I don't want Josh involved with 829."

"Well Angela doesn't seem able to sort it on her own."

"Then Toby can help."

"And while Toby's doing that, who's dealing with communications? Maybe CJ could, and Josh's intern could have a go at press briefing, while Josh sits in his office and organizes my itinerary for next month, because that's really where his talents are most needed." Jed glared at Leo. "I want Josh helping with 829."

"Yes, Mr President. Was there anything else?"

"Have you made an appointment?"

"It's not that easy, Sir. Where exactly would I go?"

"If you really wanted to, Leo, you'd find somewhere. What happened with you and Josh this weekend?"

"We talked."

"I can see."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angela glanced at Josh as he skimmed through the file. She hoped he was there to help and not just to prove something to her, himself or Leo. And that was another thing, "What's wrong with Leo?"

"How would I know?" Josh shrugged and turned a page. "Why has Daly suddenly agreed to everything?"

"I appealed to his sense of party loyalty," Angela told him.

Josh smiled, "You offered him our support on welfare?"

"Yeah," Angela smiled back. "So Leo?"

"Why do you keep asking me? You've known him longer than I have."

"I thought you'd known him since you were a kid?"

"He worked for my father, I didn't really know him." Which wasn't completely true, but at that moment it felt like he'd never known Leo at all.

"OK," Angela agreed. "You up to speed then?"

"Yeah. Let's see if I can remember the way to the Hill."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Josh."

"Mr President." Josh stood as Jed entered his office that evening.

Jed sat in the visitor's chair. "Sit down and stop looking so worried. I understand why you didn't tell me, I want to know what you think we can do to help."

"He has to want help, Sir, and at the moment he doesn't."

"Sometimes we have to force help on people, Josh. You didn't want to speak to Stanley," Jed pointed out.

"Due respect, Sir, that was different. You can force him to go to as many meetings and have as much therapy as you want, it won't make any difference if he's going to go home and have a drink, or ten."

"I know," Jed sighed. "You and him fight?"

"Just a little."

Jed nodded, "I told him I'd worked it out on my own."

"It wasn't that, Sir. We started fighting as soon as I mentioned it to him. Mallory told me last weekend."

"Who else knows?"

Josh hesitated; if he told the president about Donna then he was going to have to tell him how she knew, but he realized he had to tell him. "Donna. She was at my apartment when he turned up. She could hardly not notice he was drunk."

"Leo didn't leave The Residence until almost 2am, Donna was at your apartment late."

"Yes, Sir," Josh agreed.

Jed frowned at that, but then reasoned that Josh and Donna were both consenting adults who weren't breaking any laws. "I'm glad," he smiled. "Make sure you look after her."

"I couldn't do anything else," Josh assured him.

"Anyone else know about Leo?"

"Angela knows something's wrong, but I don't think she knows what. I'm pretty sure he can't hide it from Margaret."

"They've both known him a long time, I suppose they know the signs. You and Angela may not get on, but you both have a concern for Leo's welfare in common. Don't look like that, Josh. I don't know what he said to you, but you still care about him."

"You sound like Donna, Sir. What do you suggest we do?"

"I have no idea. I don't know what made him quit before, do you?"

"I didn't know him that well then, he was my father's friend. I got the impression that he just decided he didn't want to carry on living from drink to drink."

"I suppose things have been building for a while now." Jed knew he had been off-loading his worries and frustrations onto Leo, seeing as Abbey wasn't speaking to either of them. He suddenly wondered who Leo talked to. In the past he knew he talked to Josh or Toby. But Leo and Josh had hardly spoken for weeks and Jed had noticed the atmosphere between Leo and Toby, in fact there was an atmosphere between Leo and just about everyone.

"Does he still go to the meetings?" Josh asked.

"Not since Hoynes left, no. The others didn't like Leo attending. Once John left they started a new meeting and didn't invite him."

"That sounds pretty immature," Josh commented. "I wish I knew what to suggest, Sir."

"You think Stanley Keyworth would talk to him?"

Josh smiled at that. "I think Stanley's going to need his own office here soon. I can call him. Shall I tell him why?"

"Tell him I asked him to speak with Leo, don't tell him about the drinking, not over the phone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Jed had left, Josh phoned Delta and checked the availability of flights from LA the next day. Then he called Stanley's office.

"Hey, Josh. How've you been?" Stanley had been expecting this call for weeks now. He knew Josh had seen his counselor since the kidnapping, but he'd still been surprised not to have heard from him.

"I'm fine, you?"

"I'm good. If you're fine why are you calling?" Stanley's tone was amused and questioning.

"The President asked me to call you. He'd like you to come to Washington."

"You know, until I first saw you, no one had ever used the words, 'the President asked me to call you'. Who does he want me to see, or is that a secret until I get there?"

"Leo."

Stanley could hear the reluctance in Josh's words. "Can you tell me why?"

"Not until you get here. Can you come?"

"Yes. Hang on a few minutes." Two minutes later Stanley returned to the phone. "I can come tomorrow if I can get a flight."

"That's not a problem, I checked with Delta, they've got seats."

"Where'd you want to meet?"

"I'll collect you. There's a flight gets in a 6?"

"I'll see you then."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following evening Josh left Washington's National Airport with Stanley, and drove him back to the White House. "Does he know I'm coming?"

"The President's telling him about now."

"How do you think he'll react?"

"Badly, which is why I volunteered to collect you," Josh smiled.

"You want to tell me what's going on?"

"He's drinking."

Stanley sighed. That was what he had been expecting, but he had still hoped he was wrong. "I'm not a alcohol counselor, Josh."

"You're a trauma specialist."

"You think he's drinking because of Zoey?"

"I think that was the start, I think things have been building since then."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No," Leo told Jed.

"I can make it an order, Leo."

Leo glared at Jed. "Yes, Sir, you can. When?"

"Josh is picking him now."

"Josh. I should have known."

"Stanley helped him."

"Well, yes, he's a trauma specialist."

"You're going to sit and talk to him. You're meeting in the Residence."

"Who else knows he's coming?"

"If anyone sees him they'll assume he's here to see Josh."

"Who knows?" Leo repeated.

"No one. We're just trying to help, Leo. I'm assuming you want help."

Leo stared down at his desk and then back up at Jed. "Yes," he said quietly.

"Good. It'll be OK you know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you an AA counselor now?"

"I'm everything, Leo. Why are you drinking?" Stanley asked.

"It's been a bad few months."

"You've been through bad times before and not drunk. Rosslyn, the MS disclosure." Stanley knew why those were different, but he wanted Leo to tell him.

"I know."

"What was different this time?" When Leo didn't answer, Stanley prompted him. "Who'd you talk to, normally? After Rosslyn, who'd you talk to?"

"Rosslyn was different."

"You care less about Josh than Zoey?" Stanley asked, his voice reflecting the doubt he felt at that.

"No. But I knew where Josh was. Hell, I could stand and watch the surgery. I knew there was a high chance he could die, I just didn't believe he would."

"Where you alone?"

"Was I alone?"

"After Rosslyn and during the MS disclosure."

"I'm not alone now."

"Who'd you talk to?"

"After Rosslyn?" Leo asked, Stanley nodded. "Everyone, the president, Abbey, Toby, CJ, Sam, even Josh's mother and then Josh himself. I don't see...?"

"And the MS disclosure?"

"The staff I guess."

"Josh?"

"Yeah, and Toby."

"So what happened with the staff when Zoey went missing?"

Leo considered that question. What did happen to them? "Toby was caught up in writing and the twins, CJ was dealing with the press," Leo replied.

Stanley was pretty sure there was more to it than that. "What about Josh?"

"He was fixated with the president stepping aside, with how it looked, with a Republican takeover."

"He was annoying you?"

"You could say that."

"So you were on your own?"

"I'm the chief of staff. At the end of the day I'm always on my own."

"No, I don't think that's true. You always have the senior staff and you always have the Bartlets. This time you had none of them."

"So I can blame my drinking on Zoey's kidnap and the staff?"

Stanley gave a humorless smile. "No, you know that isn't how it works. How are the president and first lady?"

"They're fine," Leo lied. In truth Abbey still refused to speak to him. As for Jed. He couldn't get back into the game, he was fixating on the little things, the things he thought he could have an immediate effect on and he was missing the bigger picture. So the big things fell to Leo. It may scare the public to know that Leo, drunk or sober, was the one running the country and had been since the kidnapping ended.

Stanley hadn't expected an honest answer to that, but he did to his next question. "And the staff. How are they handling the situation?"

"The staff?"

"Yes. CJ?"

"CJ's fine." CJ's not been herself since she found out about Shareef, since Christmas. Leo knew she thought he'd been too hard on her, but he had to be.

"OK. What about Toby?"

"Toby pissed at me about Josh and Will, other than that he's OK." Toby thought that Leo was ignoring his advice, Leo was well aware of that. But Leo thought Toby's judgment was clouded by his desire to take a step back from the day to day speech writing, that was why he hadn't wanted to loose Will.

"So they're both fine then?" Stanley commented. "What about Josh?"

Leo expression hardened. "Josh is pissed at me for bringing in Angela Blake to take on some of his work. Josh thinks he should be able to do what he wants and get away with whatever he does."

Stanley noted with interest the sudden anger that came into Leo's voice at the mention of Josh. He wanted to probe a little deeper into that one. "I'm not sure that's true, Leo."

"You don't know him, not like I do."

"When you called me in to talk to Josh, the Christmas after Rosslyn, I got the impression that he was more than your deputy. You were genuinely worried about him, not just for how his work would suffer."

Leo sighed. "I've known him a long time, his father was a good friend. That doesn't mean he can manipulate me."

"You think he wants to?"

"I think he spent the entire time Zoey was missing fretting about how it looked in the press, about our polling figures and how to get the Republicans out of the Oval Office."

"You don't think he was worried about Zoey?"

"If he was, he hid it well."

"Perhaps he did."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Leo left Stanley, after promising to talk to a counselor of Stanley's choice, he decided to take Stanley's advice and talk to Josh about the kidnapping.

"Do you have a minute?"

Josh looked up from his computer. "How you doing?"

Leo closed the door and sat down in the visitor's chair. "Who's idea was it to call Stanley Keyworth."

"It's what you would have done if it was one of us."

Leo decided on the direct approach. "When Zoey was missing, what were you thinking?"

"What was I thinking? I don't know," Josh shrugged.

"It looked like you were thinking about opinion polls and who was in charge of the country."

"It did?"

"If you'd mentioned the president taking back power one more time I swear I'd have hit you."

"You still met with Angela and got some polling data. She told you what I'd been telling you."

Leo shook his head. "She'd never met Zoey, Josh," he replied angrily. "You're suppose to be her friend."

"I am her friend," Josh replied. "But there was nothing I could do."

And there it was; with those seven words, or more accurately the tone used, Leo realized what was going on in July. 'There was nothing I could do'. Nothing but throw himself into work, which Leo knew was Josh's escape from the things that scare him, from things he couldn't control.

Josh hadn't finished though. "You really think I didn't care. God, Leo, I was right outside the club. We were stood talking to Wesley when he was told. I knew before you did. But what could I do?"

"I know, I'm sorry."

Josh shrugged and changed the subject back to Leo. "What did Stanley say?"

"About Zoey?" Leo asked, momentarily thrown by the shift in the conversation.

"About you."

"I haven't had a drink since Saturday night. I almost did on Sunday, but Donna phoned and then Mallory came round, then the president phoned and I came here."

"Good. What did Stanley say?"

"He's arranging for me to see someone."

"How many times?"

Leo didn't pretend not to understand. "Three. Strangely the first was after Zoey was found. I bought a bottle of whiskey on the way home. Then after the fireworks on the 4th. Then last weekend."

"Not in between?"

"I've only got drunk three times. Not that I expect anyone to be proud of me for the only part. Who else knows?"

"Me, Donna, the president, Mal and Margaret."

"Not the staff?"

"No, none of them know. They know something's wrong."

"How?"

"You don't seem to have noticed how close to the edge they are, that's not like you."

"They're doing fine," Leo protested.

"Oh come on. CJ's been angry since Christmas. Toby wants to take a step back and widen his portfolio. Will gave up on us and left. Angela does seem fine though."

"And you?"

"Me? Yeah I'm just great."

"Angela's..."

"Staying. Yes I know. Actually some of this stuff," Josh indicated his desk, "is quite interesting. Some of it we should have done years ago. The problem is though, that while I may have time to look at it, no one else does. Still, it keeps me off the streets."

Leo felt a small twinge of guilt at Josh's tone of voice. "I had to do it, Josh."

Josh nodded. "I may have told Donna it'd be fine, but I was half expecting to be fired."

"So I did you a favor," Leo smiled.

"Not quite how I'd have put it, but okay."

"Josh, what I said last weekend, about you and about Noah, I didn't mean it. He was a good friend. I would never try and damage his memory."

"No one could." Josh didn't want to talk about his father, not with Leo. "How do you feel?"

"Honestly? Crap. It'll pass, I'll be alright." As Leo watched Josh though he couldn't help but wonder whether they'll be alright, whether they can ever reclaim their friendship.

THAT'S ALL FROM ME, WHAT HAPPENS WITH JOSH AND LEO IS UP TO JOHN WELLS 


End file.
